Editor: Xiao Meng
Preface
In the long history of the Han Dynasty, there was such a general, Li Guangli, who was known as the "Second Division General", but he became infamous because of his successive defeats on the battlefield.
However, behind him lies a legendary story of family glory and personal destiny.
This article will take you through the rise and fall of the Li family, and explore the tragic life of a favored but repeatedly defeated general, Li Guangli.
One
In the ensuing Xiongnu War, Li Guangli's decision became a turning point in his life.
The campaign was a serious test of strength, military spending, and morale.
Sadly, Li Guangli, a valiant general, rushed into action because his wife and children were involved in the witchcraft case and rashly launched the war.
This choice to abandon prudence in order to save his family eventually led him to rush into merit, which eventually led to heavy losses for the Han army.
In the tragic battle of Mochoushui, almost all the elite soldiers of the Han Dynasty died on the battlefield, and Li Guangli himself was never recovered.
There was a wail among the soldiers under his command, and he lost his prestige in an instant.
Finally forced to surrender, Li Guangli's glorious moment was destined to be just a flash in the pan, he became a general of the Xiongnu Shan Yu, and married Shan Yu's daughter.
However, after the success of the noble favor, the wheel of fortune turned again, and Wei Lu's offensive disrupted the established rhythm, and Li Guangli was forced to participate in the battle for the crown prince within the Han Dynasty.
He tried to support his nephew Liu Ji as the new crown prince, but in the end, fate was not on his side, and the power of the Han Dynasty caught him in a whirlpool.
When the witch plague came, Li Guangli's army was fighting valiantly on the battlefield of the Xiongnu.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty found out the truth, Li Guangli had no chance to go home.
He was defeated by the Xiongnu, and tens of thousands of Han troops under his command were also wiped out, Li Guangli felt that he had no place to stand, so he had to surrender to the Xiongnu and became Shan Yu's son-in-law.
In layman's terms, Li Guangli's life path can be described as shameful, he was a famous commander with extraordinary perseverance and fighting talent.
Two
In ancient Chinese history, there was a family that rose to prominence because of its outstanding talents, and then perished because of a complex power struggle.
The rise and fall of this family began with a musician, Li Yannian, who was originally an excellent musician, however, due to an unexpected incident, he was sentenced to the palace and sent to the palace as a lantern riddle poet.
However, during his time in the palace, Li Yannian displayed his extraordinary musical talent, which attracted the attention of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
It is said that one day, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard that Li Yannian's musical skills were extraordinary, so he invited him to the palace to play.
Li Yannian's outstanding performance showed his unique creative style and stunts, which won the appreciation of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
From then on, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty became a staunch supporter of Li Yannian, and specially appointed him as the imperial musician, so that he could enjoy equal treatment with princes and nobles.
However, even though Li Yannian's status has improved to a certain extent, he still can't escape the status of a slave, and the power he has is only closer to the emperor.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were no eunuchs to interfere in politics, and power was concentrated in the hands of the emperor.
It was in such circumstances and circumstances that Madame Li entered the harem of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and was favored by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Her beauty and talent made her stand out in the harem and became one of the most favored concubines of Emperor Wu of Han.
During this period, Li Guangli, as the elder brother of Mrs. Li, was also reused by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and was appointed as a senior official and was named the general of the second division.
However, the good times did not last long, and Mrs. Li died soon after, and the power of the Li family was also in turmoil.
The Li brothers, Li Guangli and Li Ji, were beheaded for their involvement in misconduct, and the entire family was in unprecedented danger.
Although their family's power was not as strong as before at this time, Li Guangli, as a military general, retained some of his strength and status.
With his military prowess, he succeeded in conquering enemy forces and ultimately won the stability and security of vast areas within China.
However, in the ensuing power struggle, Li Guangli was forced to surrender to the enemy army, which led to the destruction of him and his entire family.
The Li family was once a powerful family in the imperial court, but the power struggle within the court eventually led to their rise and fall.
This history teaches us a lesson that we should be cautious and avoid being engulfed in the maelstrom of power, regardless of our background.
The fate of the Li family is a reminder that power is not always the same, and sometimes all it takes is a small compromise to lead to the destruction of a family.
Three
The death of Wei Qing, the weakening of the Wei family's power, and Emperor Wu of Han's concern for the Wei family further intensified Emperor Wu's pursuit of power change.
In order to reduce the influence of the Wei family and challenge its supremacy, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to promote the Li family to compete with the Wei family.
Compared with the Wei family, the Li family does have a disadvantage in terms of the number of people, except for Mrs. Li, there are only three men, one of whom has even been punished by the palace.
Although it limited the number of people available, this did not hinder Emperor Wu of Han's ambition to reuse the Li family.
In Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's plan, he promoted Lady Li's elder brother Li Guangli to an important position and hoped to train him to become the next "Wei Qing".
As a result, Li Guangli was appointed as the commander of Xielu and received military training from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, with the original intention of allowing him to exert his military talents similar to Wei Qing, so that he could attack the Xiongnu in the future.
However, to the surprise of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Li Guangli was obsessed with court life and had an affair with the harem women of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which was intolerable to any emperor.
In view of this, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty finally decided to take extreme measures against Li Guangli and put him to death.
This incident was a blow to the Li family and also made Emperor Wu of Han re-examine his choice.
Although the decline of the Wei family's power gave the Li family a temporary chance, it turned out that a peerless celebrity like Wei Qing could not be created only through resources and promotion.
Therefore, shortly after Wei Qing's death, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued a nationwide recruitment order to find the next outstanding general like Wei Qing.
It was at this time that Li Guangli was promoted by relying on his sister's connections and received a lot of instruction in the art of war and warfare.
Although the challenge was limited, the expedition faced important military tests, and Dawan was located in Uzbekistan, far from the Han-controlled Yumen Pass.
The army needs to travel through most of the Western Regions to reach its destination, which increases the combat radius of the expedition to Dawan.
But it is undeniable that although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was full of expectations for Li Guangli and had lofty ideals, compared with Wei Qing, Li Guangli's military ability and background gap was huge.
Wei Qing is a generation of famous generals with outstanding military talents and noble qualities, however, Li Guangli was promoted because of Mrs. Li's relationship, and his personal ability is mediocre.
Li Guangli failed to annex Dawan as he wished, and after his defeat, he had to retreat to Dunhuang and declare the end of his military career.
This defeat not only made people see the complexity of the change of power, but also partly reflected the dependence and contradictions of the Han Dynasty on foreign relatives at that time.
Wei Qing's death has affected the Wei family's power, and the rise and fall of the Li family has also evaluated the importance of power and personal ability.
Although Li Guangli failed to achieve victory, this defeat did not make Emperor Wu of Han give up his goal of breaking the hegemony of the Wei family.
Four
In the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Kingdom of Dawan attracted the covetousness of the Han Empire because of its precious sweat and blood.
To this end, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered Li Guangli to lead tens of thousands of soldiers to Dawan for armed acquisition.
However, this action did not have the desired effect, and instead became a serious setback for the Han Empire.
First of all, Li Guangli's contempt for the countries of the Western Regions led to his inability to obtain sufficient logistical support.
He believed that he was leading a powerful Han army, which was enough to deter the countries of the Western Regions, so he failed to properly handle the relationship with the local forces.
As a result, the Han army was not adequately supplied during the march, and the soldiers were demoralized.
Second, Li Guangli's strategic mistakes put the Han army in a difficult position.
He chose to directly attack the capital of Dawan, but underestimated Dawan's determination to resist.
Under Yu Chengcheng, the Han army could not be attacked for a long time, and suffered heavy losses, and in the end, Li Guangli had to lead his army to retreat to Dunhuang, and the first expedition to Dawan ended in failure.
During the second expedition, although Li Guangli brought more soldiers, it still failed to change the tide of the war.
He forcibly attacked Luntai, which caused dissatisfaction among the local people, and in the battle with Dawan, although the Han army once surrounded the capital of Dawan, due to water problems, it was never able to conquer the city.
In the end, the two sides negotiated peace, and the Han army obtained some war horses, but at great cost.
For Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the failure of these two expeditions was undoubtedly a blow to his authority.
He originally hoped to demonstrate the national power of the Han Dynasty through powerful military operations, but he did not expect that Li Guangli's command mistakes led to the defeat of the war.
This not only damaged the influence of the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions, but also greatly reduced the trust of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in Li Guangli.
In the later wars, Li Guangli's performance was still unsatisfactory, and in the battle with the Xiongnu, the Han army again suffered heavy losses.
This made Emperor Wu of Han's patience with Li Guangli reach the limit, and finally, after Li Guangli's defeat, Emperor Wu of Han issued an order forbidding him to return to China and exterminated the Li family.